A Tale of Two Cities

blackprince · Post by **blackprince** » Thu 28 Aug, 2014 8:59 pm

Guess which city this is from the clues: • City name has 5 letters beginning with L ( L----)• It is in the north of the country and is the 4th largest metropolis by population• Its wealth in the 19th and early 20th century was based on coal mining and textiles.• Following the decline of these industries since the 1960’s it has turned to service industries.• It has what is considered to be the best public transport system in the country : a metro system with driverless trains and a modern tram system. • It also has a high speed rail link to London ( 1hr 30 min)• A section of the city around the high speed rail station has been completely re-modernised • It has a football team in the top division which recently won the league cup double.Is this (a) Leeds in your dreams, (b) Leeds in a parallel universe (c)Leeds in the future (2035) or (d) a real life city? If so which?

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Thu 28 Aug, 2014 9:04 pm

Lille?

Barwicker · Post by **Barwicker** » Thu 28 Aug, 2014 9:06 pm

Lille, in northern France. I believe it was at one time a Twin Town of Leeds.

blackprince · Post by **blackprince** » Thu 28 Aug, 2014 9:10 pm

Cardiarms wrote: Lille? Well done got it in one !I visited Lille last Year and was struck by the historical parallels between the 2 cities but the recent development, especially in transport, couldn't be more different.

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Thu 28 Aug, 2014 9:11 pm

It's ironic that the approach road to their modern railway station is the Boulevard de Leeds.

blackprince · Post by **blackprince** » Thu 28 Aug, 2014 9:17 pm

That really is ironic - I never spotted that. It might be a nice gesture if the road to Leeds HS3 terminal was named "Lille Boulevard".